PALM HARBOR -- Kenneth
Gollihue figured the best way to find
a stolen wedding band was to think like
the golf-course raccoon that made off
with it.

For two days, the veteran
landscape technician at Westin Innisbrook
Golf Resort had searched a swamp between
the fourth and fifth holes at the resort's
Island course. That's where a crafty
raccoon had dashed with a golfer's green
tote bag containing snacks and the $1,200
ring.

"On the way home
yesterday, I know it sounds silly, but
I was starting to think: "What
would a raccoon do?' " said Gollihue,
44, of New Port Richey.

The answer: The raccoon
would run about 25 feet into the swamp,
unzip the bag and gobble the airline
pretzels and baggie of sliced apples.
It would then leave everything else
in the swamp.

And that's exactly where
Gollihue found the half-submerged bag
during his lunch break Thursday.

Shortly after, the ring
was reunited with its owner, Helen Hutzler,
an avid golfer from New York who spends
winters in Palm Harbor.

"I have some bad
news," Innisbrook associate golf
pro Chris Slattery told her. "We
were unable to recover any pretzels
or apples, but we did recover a pretty
ring.' "

"I was all excited,"
said Hutzler, 63. "Relieved."

Hutzler was putting
the par-3 fourth hole Tuesday afternoon
when the raccoon sneaked into her golf
cart and dashed away into the nearby
woods with her tote bag.

"He was so fast,"
Hutzler said. "I didn't even see
him."

After hearing about
the theft, the resort's maintenance
crew took it as their mission to find
Hutzler's ring. They were sure the raccoon
would abandon the bag somewhere in the
woods after taking out the food.

Raccoons and squirrels
have been known to grab unwatched snacks
and bags at Innisbrook. Usually, the
bags are found within minutes, Slattery
said.

But in Hutzler's case,
Sunday's heavy rains had filled the
swamps with knee-high water. That made
searching the woods more difficult.

"When she came
in and told me about it, I said, "I'll
tell you what, I guarantee we will find
it when the water goes down,' "
Slattery said. "We were very confident
we could find it. I don't know many
raccoons that are into gold and diamonds,
so we were okay."

Hutzler said she thought
her ring was lost forever. Her husband,
Fred, had given it to her as an anniversary
present about four years ago.

Gollihue searched for
the ring both days since it was taken.
He grew up hunting and tracking wild
animals in Michigan so he felt sure
he could find the tote bag, Gollihue
said.

For his efforts, Hutzler
gave Gollihue $100. He said he plans
to use the money to take his fiancee
out to dinner.

Asked why he was so
dogged, he said it was a chance to do
the right thing.

"I recently became
engaged," he said, "and I
know my fiancee would be just heartbroken
if she lost her ring."